Disappointing Opening for the Qatari Table-Tennis Team

The Qatari table-tennis team lost its first game(1-3) in the World 2000 Championship games to Sri Lanka. At the beginning of the match in Malaysia th

The Qatari table-tennis team lost its first game(1-3) in the World 2000 Championship games to Sri Lanka.

At the beginning of the match in Malaysia there was cause for optimism as Jaber Afifah won two sets to one (21-18, 21-21, 21-19), A Raya daily reports. In the second meet, the Qatari player, Hamad al Hamadi was upset by his opponent 0-2 (15-21, 19-21).

Hopes again were raised for Qatar at the beginning of the third game when Muhammad Hasan al Rumeihi won the first set 21-17. But he failed to build on the momentum, losing the next two sets (19-21, 9-21). In the fourth match, Qatari team member, Ali al Hamadi, lost the first set 17-21, came back to win the second set 21-11 but lost the decisive third 21-23 after having led 20-17.

Following this defeat, Qatar will have to fight a tough battle to qualify for the next round. Its next game is against tough Luxembourg. Luxembourg won its match against the Palestinians who were disqualified for not showing up in Malaysia.